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Irk
Irk is the home planet of the Irkens, and the capital planet of the Irken Empire. The view of Irk from space may be seen briefly during the opening sequence as a pink ringed planet when Zim is flying away from the armada, and the capital city can be seen when Zim is rampaging through it in The Nightmare Begins. A screen showing the Irken Empire in the same episode depicts a large ringed blue planet in the middle, identified as Irk. This coloring was probably for easier identification. Physical Characteristics Irk's climate, geography and topography are unknown to us, though it is theorized that with the dominance of the planet by the Irken species, the entire planet has become covered in sprawling cities and metropolises. The sky on Irk is light pink in color, like on Foodcourtia. The idea of rain puzzled Zim at first, indicating that there was no rain, if any water, on Irk. However, Zim and the Almighty Tallest have been seen drinking Irken soda several times. It is also suggested in Walk of Doom that Irk's sun does not emit Ultraviolet rays, or that Irk's ozone layer is very thick. When Zim stared at Earth's sun to determine which direction is west, his eyes burnt to a crisp, which alarmed him. His reaction was that "they booby-trapped their sun somehow!" Life The only known organisms of the planet are the Irkens themselves and the Control Brains, who dominate the planet in sprawling cities and metropolises much like the ones on Earth. Irkens are likely to have evolved from insects. However, if Irk is anything like Earth, it will have other species native to it. Zim has made references to other species when speaking in metaphors, however, it is not known if any of these creatures are native to his planet. Also, Irken Smeets are born presumably in a large "birthing facility" (known to be called the "Hatcheries") beneath the surface of Irk. Very few Irkens are tall, only the Tallest are tall, plus a few acceptions. Orbit One Irken year is equivalent to 10.6 Earth years, meaning that Irk is likely to be farther away from its star than Earth is to the Sun. This may mean that Irk is much colder than the planet Earth. Zim is 16 Irk years, meaning he is 159.9 Earth years. The idea of Irk being distant from its star would suggest the planet has a very low temperature. However, this does not increase the likelihood of water as water requires hydrogen and oxygen to be present on the planet which Irk may be devoid of, though this is again highly unlikely since hydrogen is the single most common element in the universe, with oxygen simmialarly common. Furthermore, it was stated in a previous paragraph of this page that Irk's sun would have to either not emit UV rays or have a very thick ozone layer, however, the first of these is impossible meaning that the ozone layer theory is the only logical choice, proving that Irk must have oxygen in some form.. It's also important to note, should both be present, Irk's distance from the sun would mean it would be in a solid state, not unlike liquids on the moons Iapetus and Europa. Air The Irken PAK allows an Irken to breathe in any atmosphere. Zim needs his spacesuit when he is in the vacuum of space or on a planet where there is little to no atmosphere. However, he is capable of breathing without his PAK, so it can be assumed that there is oxygen or another breathable gas present on both Irk and Earth. But without the PAK, Irkens can only survive about 10 minutes. Irk has an atmosphere, since it has clouds and a pink sky, but the make-up of its air is unknown. Distance In a canceled episode, Dib was to have gone to Irk and take it over, probably using Tak's Ship . It is unknown if he would have aged in the journey. However, distance appears to be relative, changing for comic reasons quite regularly. Assuming that the conquered planet Conventia is anywhere near Irk, it takes about six months to journey from the Irken homeworld to Earth. Rings As seen on the galactic map in The Nightmare Begins , Irk is surrounded by rings, meaning Irk is likely high in gravity. However, unlike the ringed giants in this solar system, Irk is a solid planet rather than a gas planet. This is probably what gives Irkens their agility on Earth. View from Space As mentioned above, Irk's view from space is possibly unknown. However, in ''The Nightmare Begins'', Irk is said to be the dark blue planet with thin red rings in the center of the galactic map. We can assume that this is not its natural color, as all the other planets are a white color, meaning that it's more of a representation than an accurate map. As seen in the opening sequence, assuming it is Irk and not some other planet it is pink and white stripes along with planetary rings. Trivia *"Irk" is a synonym for "annoy". A possible reason Jhonen Vasquez named the planet this and named the species "Irkens" (which sounds like "I''rkin' ") could be that Zim can be quite annoying. *In [[The Nightmare Begins|''The Nightmare Begins]] , we can see Irk on the map behind The Tallest. It appears to be a blue planet with a red ring, however, this may simply be a representation, as none of the other planets surrounding it have any color. *Irk maybe possibly seen briefly in the opening sequence when Zim flies away from the armada. Appearances *The Nightmare Begins *Parent Teacher Night *The Frycook What Came From All That Space *The Trial (canceled episode) *Invader Dib (canceled episode) See Also *Irken *Irken Empire *Irken Invaders *Irken Military *Irken Society *Irken Technology *Irken Biology *Irken Jobs *Irken History *Irken PAK *Written Irken Language *Smeet Category:Planets Category:Irken Empire